Ask Our Grammar "Experts" Showing 451-500 of 1,580

[Ken, Moderator]

We'll run with it then. It's official (and you get the Grammatically Fickle Finger of Fate today).

[Debbie, sardonic princess of cheerfulness]

NOT to be confused with THE FINGER! Eh Rob!! (Nikolai gave me it yesterday.....remember Nikolai?)

[Sarah]

Hi again -
Is that last conjugation correct? Does is seem awkward? Thanks!

"Days turned to dust that couldn’t fly;

they phantomed, bogging down
the awnings, like the bygones
I’d sworn went by."

[Ken, Moderator]

My grammar sense wants to read "I'd sworn had gone by," but if it's a voice and that voice is of a dialect of the author's choosing, you can make do with whatever construction you wish.

[Carol]

Which is the right word? My friend and I were woke up. or My friend and I were awakened........ awakened or woke

[Ken, Moderator]

My money's on "My friend and I were awakened."

[Carol]

That is what I thought. I just finished Homage To Catalonia,and Orwell used woke. So I thought maybe I was wrong all these years .Thanks

[David]

Looks correct to me. The whole poem plays with derivation and syntax. "The bygones I sworn went by." Cute.

UPDATE: Should be "swore." Typo.

[Sarah]

Thanks for the advice. Maybe "The bygones I swore went by" is better...

[David]

"Swore" is correct. "Sworn" is the participle. Typo.

[Anna]

I'd leave out the word 'phantomed' all together. You're trying to get across the idea of time not moving. Phantoms move.

Days turned to dust that couldn't fly
they bogged down the awnings
like bygones I'd sworn went by

[lixy]

I'd like to go back to the Antipodes for a second, although this is more eymology than grammar, sorry! As a pedantic greek, I'd like to point out that many latin roots have their origin in greek (this is not just nationalism talking, as in the silly movie "my big fat greek wedding" :-)). Like "ped-" (foot) from "pod-". The other greek root "ped-" which confused you is actually better transliterated as "paed-" child. You have encountered the problem of transliteration, a frequent bugbear for translators like me (problematic, because it's never quite accurate; for instance, this "ae" in greek is actually the diphthong "ai"). This "ae" spelling is usually maintained in british english, such as haemoglobin, where we would write hemoglobin (which, BTW, is a typical medical terminology mix of greek and latin roots, haem- blood and glob-round, sphere, and funnily enough, in greek h(a)emoglobin is called "haimospherin"). In england you probably still take your child to a paediatrician and perhaps talk about a school's paedagogical system. Pedant, BTW, comes also--via latin-from the same pedagogue path....

[David]

A few intellectual trinkets for οι πολλοι, aka the benighted masses.

[Anna]

I took an Old English Language class once. Fascinating. Didn't really learn much though.

[Ken, Moderator]

Archaeologist keeps the "ae" but it, too, now has alternate spellings.

[Debbie, sardonic princess of cheerfulness]

I'm in the Antipodes all the time! We have pedagogy here.....

[Ken, Moderator]

We have pedagogy here.....

Has the government taken steps to control it? You know, quarantines and all that?

[David]

A dying Irishman was talking to his priest. "Father," he said, "I know it's a secular school, but New York University is a good one. I'm thinking of leaving it some money."
"D'you know, my son," Father Malachy replied, "that the male and female students there matriculate together, and share the same curriculum."
"Never mind, Father," came the reply, "I'm leaving it all to the Church!"

[Ken, Moderator]

Sic semper matriculus! (read: "Ever thus to matriculators!")

[Anna]

I would see stylistic design as something unique to this particular author. Some means of describing (in this case) mood. However, I don't spot anything unique. I suppose it could be "quality of nervous despair" - it's not exactly a common wording.

Certainly don't take my word for it though. I've no education in literature at all. All I do is write.

[Ruth]

Shouldn't you be doing your own homework, Charles?

[Debbie, sardonic princess of cheerfulness]

I think I agree with Ruth.

[Anna]

If that is an example of 'home work', I'm glad I'm here instead.

[Ruth]

Anna wrote: "If that is an example of 'home work', I'm glad I'm here instead."

Of course it looks hard. But we haven't heard the lecture or explanation his teacher would have given.

[Anna]

True. But it still sounds like a "guess what the teacher wants to hear" sort of thing to me. I never was very good when it came to Literature. Then again, I don't think I ever had a very good teacher.

[Debbie, sardonic princess of cheerfulness]

You said in another thread that it was a question set by your teacher and you asked for help with the answer. So it is schoolwork of some kind and you should be doing your own analysis! Happy to help with grammar and punctuation Charles, but not analysis. And we are very friendly here....just ask anyone!!:-)

[Anna]

Aw now, Charles. We've all had to do our homework. Just because we expect you to do yours doesn't make us mean people. Try yahoo answers if you want all of your questions answered the easy way.

[Anna]

All right then. Enlighten me - I'm notoriously curious. What is "Stylistic Design"?

[Nita]

Hi,

I have a question about the word "steps."

There are a set of tasks that must be performed simultaneously (not in sequence). So is it all right if I said:

"Perform the following steps:"

Does the word "steps" automatically suggest that all the tasks need to be performed in sequence?

Thanks,
Nita

[David]

Yep, just like the Argentine tango,
La tarantella, and the
Spanish fandango.

[Nita]

Thanks, Gabi! The original sentence was:
"These processes then carry out the following steps:"

I'll use:
"These processes then carry out the following tasks simultaneously."

(I don't know why I changed the original sentence to post it here!) LOL

Thanks! :-)

Nita

[David]

Pat your head (up and down) and rub your belly with the other hand (in circles) at the same time.

Point both index fingers, holding your hands in front of you. Move one hand clockwise and the other counterclockwise, simultaneously.

Congratulations. You are now a fifth grader again.

[John]

Sorry if this has already been covered, but I just can't handle a period inside quotation marks for a set-off term. The following example is just wrong:

I came home from the party fuming, because Annette said my new ($200!) haircut looked "funny."

[Ruth]

John wrote: "Sorry if this has already been covered, but I just can't handle a period inside quotation marks for a set-off term. The following example is just wrong:

I came home from the party fuming, because ..."

Exactly the way I feel. I copy edited a book for someone who felt the same way and we put the punctuation where we thought it belonged. Got all kinds of flak when the book came out.

[Ken, Moderator]

Looks right to me. Hey, when you get a period rule without exceptions, you run with "it."

[Ruth]

John wrote: "Sorry if this has already been covered, but I just can't handle a period inside quotation marks for a set-off term. The following example is just wrong:

I came home from the party fuming, because ..."

The British & Canadians agree with you, John--& those who speak other European languages too, for that matter. But I'm an editor thoroughly trained in U.S. standard English style, so my eye wants the "mild" punctuation marks (period & comma) inside the quotation marks. At least we can all agree about putting the more emphatic colons, semicolons, & question & exclamation marks OUTSIDE, unless they're part of the quoted matter.

[John]

Actually, I took an English course as part of my 2nd B A program a decade ago, and the prof agreed with me that such a rule for Americans wasn't hard and fast in cases such as the example cited.

[Debbie, sardonic princess of cheerfulness]

I used to do it the 'right' way, but since becoming an L&Ger I am so confused I just stick it anywhere the mood takes me! I am now a creative punctuator!

[Anna]

I've been told that for a set-aside word or phrase, to use single quotes with the period outside. It's the double quotes and the period that catch the eye as a mistake.

[John]

I could easily live with that 'compromise'.

[Carol]

Debbie wrote: "I used to do it the 'right' way, but since becoming an L&Ger I am so confused I just stick it anywhere the mood takes me! I am now a creative punctuator!"

I think that is what I am also hehehe

[Ken, Moderator]

I put periods inside the closing quotation mark no matter what as a form of solidarity with those patriots and Minutemen who gave their lives fighting the surly lobsterbacks over such matters as taxation, representation, and punctuation. Period.

[Carol]

They were a surly lot according to John Adams. I have grown to admire the man????????????????

[Ken, Moderator]

It's OK to admire ole John. And Thommy J. wasn't all he was cracked up to be.

[Sarah]

Hi -
Isn't the hyphen here in "more-prominent" bullshit, and that dash also would have been better as a comma, no?

"GM announced a string of management changes - including a new role for Vice Chairman Robert Lutz and the promotion of some of the company's younger managers into more-prominent roles."

[David]

You are correct, sir.

[John]

I think it looks better without a hyphen at all after "more"; I'm a dash fan, but a comma would be more useful.

[David]

A comma would, indeed--be preferable. See what I mean?

[Debbie, sardonic princess of cheerfulness]

I think a dash is ridiculous and a comma would have been superfluous....it needs nothing.

[Sarah]

That "more-prominent" is really giving me nightmares. In this case, "more" is an adverb, and adverb-adjective compounds aren't hyphenated. It's like hyphenating here: "It was a skillfully-created vase." No!